Kosiso decided to confront Ayo about the pregnancy. At first, he strongly denied it, accusing her of watching too many detective shows, but when she wouldn’t let it go, he blurted his admission. “Look, I did it for us, okay? You weren’t thinking straight, and I needed you to calm down.” “You needed me to calm down by forcing me to have a baby I didn’t plan for?”
They argued for a while, Kosiso yelling and pounding his chest, bewildered by his nonchalance. “How do I take care of two children?” He laughed. “Have you been taking care of Kene?” When he saw the look on her face, he stopped. “Wait, don’t tell me you think you’re the one who’s been taking care of her.” He burst out laughing. “Babe, don’t be obtuse. You can’t even afford her school fees.” She shuddered, tears forming a bank on the edges of her eyelids. This is not the time to cry, Saheedat had said.“ When will you set up the trust fund for Kene?”
“That’s what you should have asked me. Instead, you’re nagging me like my wife does. Her nagging is even better than yours.” He grabbed his bag and tossed an envelope at her.
“The forms are empty.”“ Because I just got them from my investor guy. I literally just saw him on my way here.” He sighed. “Look, I love you as much as I can. I love Kene too. I can’t give what you’re asking. So, you didn’t plan on having another baby, but didn’t you accept it when you didn’t know what I did? What has changed now? Don’t let your feminist friends fill your head with lies. I always take care of my kids and I won’t stop now. So, relax.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “What about me?” “I always take care of you somehow. When I take care of my kids, I take care of you. Besides, you have your job, so you’re making money from both ends.” He grabbed her hand, drew her close and whispered in her ears, “We’ve got a good thing going. Don’t grow a conscience now.
”Layo checked her phone for the umpteenth time. Few of her colleagues had responded to her invitation to the virtual financial advice session Victor had invited them to. Her list was slowly growing, but the majority of the people who were on it were not at the session. Layo pitied them, wondering how they would cope when their salaries stopped. This session was targeted at primary and secondary school teachers. Victor was talking about diversifying investments“ It is wise to diversify your investments. What I mean by this is that you mix up your investments. In other words, you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. So, you can invest in mutual funds, treasury bills, shares, even real estate.” One of her colleagues asked a crucial question: “Mr Victor, can we face reality here? The fact is that a lot of us are just trying to survive and fulfil our responsibilities. Where is the extra money to be investing anywhere? We all know how much garri and eggs cost now.” Someone typed in the chat: Thanks for speaking up ma. Let’s all tell ourselves the truth. A pot of soup is almost costing ₦5,000 now. It took Victor a while to get some order in the meeting. Layo felt everyone’s pain. Feeding alone was difficult. Telling people to put money aside for what seemed futuristic didn’t sit well with most people.“I understand you all. I think it’s time I shared my story with you all. I used to be a teacher. I taught physical education for three years before I lost my job without warning. That’s when I met someone who spoke to me about building wealth. I mean, when you lose your job, that’s the last thing you want to hear, right? But I listened to the guy. He asked me what I liked to do, and if I could find a way to make some money, just to get back on my feet.
“I did several things. I worked as a bouncer at a night club, managed a supermarket, coached basketball, I even sold ankara at a point. But I handled my money differently this time around. I told myself that I would never find myself in a position where my quality of life goes away because I lose my job. “As I earned all these small monies, I invested them in writing exams that would help me to work as a financial advisor. I knew it would pay off in the end because I could easily get a job or start my own business. When I completed my exams, I got a job with a consulting firm and shortly after, I started my own business. Today, I have a job, a business, investments in shares, treasury bills, bonds, and real estate.
“What I’m trying to say is you can turn your life around. Look, the truth is a lot of us are financially unfit, so when things like inflation come, we find it hard to cope.”
Someone unmuted their microphone. “So how do we become financially fit?” “Very good question. One of the ways to become financially fit is to get financial knowledge and advice, which you’re all doing now. So you’ve taken a step. But just like when you want to lose weight, the first thing to do to become financially fit is to set financial goals. Now let me ask a question: how many of us have financial goals? If I ask why you want to be financially fit, do you know why? “Saying ‘My goal is to pay my rent without borrowing’ is not enough. How much is your rent, and how much can you afford to save toward it? When is it due? Your goal needs to be specific. Let’s say you want to pay your rent of ₦700,000 next April — that’s ten months from now, right?
Let’s also say you can save ₦70,000 monthly. So, if you say, I want to pay my ₦700,000 rent next April by saving ₦70,000 monthly. That is a more specific short-term goal, and that’s a good financial goal. “So, does anyone here have a financial goal like that?” No one responded.
Reflections
Financial Goals
Financial goals are the personal financial objectives you set for yourself that determine how you save, invest and spend money. Setting financial goals is a crucial step towards becoming financially secure. Irrespective of your current financial situation, you should always set financial goals to help guide your decision-making in relation to your finances. Whether you want to save towards your rent, build up equity for a mortgage, invest for the future or buy a house or save for a child’s school fees, it’s critical that you set financial goals.
After setting your financial goals, you will need to create a budget that would help you meet your goals. Financial goals are achievable with discipline and hard work.
There are 3 types of financial goals:
Short-term financial goals are the things you want to do with your money within the next few months, usually less than a year. Some key short-term goals include paying off debt, buying a new laptop, saving for a professional exam or school tuition fees et al.
Medium-term financial goals take about five years to achieve. Examples include saving towards the purchase of a new home.
Long-term financial goals: These are typically goals that take more than five years to achieve. For example, paying down a mortgage.
What are the characteristics of financial goals?
In setting your financial goals, it is expedient that your goals are SMART — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely.
How can setting a financial goal help you create a budget?
Once you’ve decided what your financial goals are, your budget will help you stay focused. With your goals mapped out and your savings and spending plans in place, you’ll be more focused on what you’re trying to achieve and less likely to drift to unplanned purchases.
• Firstly, write the list of things you want to achieve.
• Secondly, rank them in order of priority.
• Thirdly, have a realistic strategy to achieve your goals. For example, learn a new skill, get another source of income.
• Finally, monitor and track your progress to see how well you are faring in meeting your financial goals.
